Author: Kbaumlier

Kristen Baumlier’s work spans the full spectrum of interdisciplinary media, including performance, interactive installation, video and audio works.
Stretch Your Paycheck – Front and Center in the 4th of July Parade

Stretch Your Paycheck – Front and Center in the 4th of July Parade

Posted on by Kbaumlier

Stretch Your Paycheck showed up at the Lakewood 4th of July Parade last week.  My friend Lane and I marched with the “Corporations are not People” group carrying the Stretch Your Paycheck dollar.  As we walked down the street, we would periodically stretch the dollar and spin around.

One little boy said, “ Yeah!  Money!” Other children held out their bags – thinking that we were going to throw out candy.

It was a hot day, but it was great to march with the high school band, political candidates, the unicycle youth group, baton twirlers, the robotic team from St. Ed’s and other groups.  Our group was in front of the Silver Sneakers group, an adult and senior fitness group who were right behind us.  By the way – I know the song they performed to by heart.

We invited a few people to stretch the paycheck along the parade route, which included the students from St. Ed’s who were in the Robotics group who built a robotic canon that could shoot out t-shirts.

If you got your picture taken stretching your paycheck – you can download your picture at the Stretch Your Paycheck website.

Stretch your paycheck is an interactive performance where you can stretch your paycheck and get a souvenir picture that you can download, print, and share. Send to your boss, your congressman, or to the bill collector!

Links:

stretchpaycheck.tumblr.com/

CoolCleveland.com – 4th of July Parade pictures (scroll to the end to see Stretch Your Paycheck)

Sweatshop: a Strategy Game from the U.K. about Clothes Production

Sweatshop: a Strategy Game from the U.K. about Clothes Production

Posted on by Kbaumlier

When I went to the Games for Change conference last month, I attended a presentation by designer and producer, Simon Parkin who was part of the team that made the game Sweatshop.  Sweatshop is a game that challenges players to manage an off-shore clothing factory, producing the latest in cheap designer fashions for Britain’s fashion district.  The game was commissioned by Channel 4  in the U.K. (which is like our PBS station in the U.S.)

In his presentation, Parkin talked about in order for a game to be effective in exploring an issue it needs to not just tell a message that is predictable.  For this game – if the game focused on telling the message, “Sweatshops are bad,” it most likely would not be a good game. He said that most of us already know that sweatshops are bad, but few of us understand the complex issues that keep these systems in place.

In making Sweatshop, the design team decided to make a game where players can experience what it is like to be the owner, manager, and factory worker in the game.  The goal of the game was to challenge young people to think about the origin of the clothes we buy and the use.  The game is a strategy game that puts the player in the role of a clothing factory’s middle management. The player is responsible for hiring and firing workers, ensuring that orders are completed in time and balancing the needs of demanding clients with worker welfare.  Real-world problems such as fires, unions, and lack of toilets add authenticity to the game mechanics.

For the game, the team worked with British charity Labour Behind The Label to make sure that the game was accurate.  After each level the player is presented with a fact that supports the themes of the level just completed with real world events.

I just played the game, and I enjoyed the cartoony graphics and expressions on the players faces.  The game balanced information and fun enough for me to want to play it.  I also appreciated that the game did not start out with lots of facts or a message that sweatshops are bad.  The game was recently selected by MIT as one of the top five ‘Best Practice Serious Games’ and the university is currently writing a paper on the game.

Why do our clothes continue to often come from sweatshops?  You can play the game online, and also view Parkin’s speech on the Games for Change Livestream page to learn more.

Image Source:
www.playsweatshop.com

Links:

www.playsweatshop.com

Simon Parkin – Games For Change Livestream Video about Sweatshop

www.littleloud.com/work/sweatshop

Kicked Out! – A Social Online Game for Teens About Using Money

Kicked Out! – A Social Online Game for Teens About Using Money

Posted on by Kbaumlier

When I was at the Games for Change Conference last month, I got a chance to talk to Anna Mostetschnig, who is Head of Research and Development of the game Kicked Out!, which is a game that teaches financial literacy in the increasingly popular game space of Facebook.  The game explores how can you handle your money responsibly, and what are the consequences of your financial decisions.

Currently many young people in their twenties already hold an average debt of about $45,000. Katharina Norden, founder of Kicked Out! recently remarked that, “…Research supports the fact that if people don’t learn financial literacy skills before the age of 19, then spending patterns become internalized to the point where they’re extremely difficult to change.” The game was created in collaboration with  psychologists, debt counselors and behavioral economists.  The team behind the game come from Vienna, Austria and they have partnered with the game developers at ‘Team Vienna’ who have worked with Rockstar games on Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, other games.

So how do you play?  In order to win at Kicked Out!, players must do well at navigating real-life financial situations, managing their daily finances and making long-term decisions while avoiding debt traps. The game is explored through trial and error, and you learn through the experience.

When I talked to Mostetschnig at G4C, she told me that this is the first Facebook that focuses on knowledge of financial decisions rather than focusing on “teaching.”   She explained that knowledge does not lead to the experience, so the game approach is to be fun and a interesting experience. Issues like what does life really cost, what are the most common debt traps, are explored in the narrative of the game.

For the game you start out leaving your parents and getting your own apartment.  You then have to decide how to decorate the apartment.  You can invite your Facebook friends and have parties.   If your party is successful you might have paty crashers like Lady Gaga or Justin Beiber.  You can take pictures and post them in Facebook.  Next day.  Uh-oh.  Your car just broke down and needs a $600 repair.  Will you make it through the rest of the month?

Kicked Out! is currently working to develop this game independently and is using Kickstarter to get funds for the game.  You can read more on the Kickstarter project website or at kicked-out.com

Image Source:
www.kicked-out.com

Links:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kicked-out/kicked-out

www.kicked-out.com

 

 

Is Your boat going in circles? You might be where you are supposed to be.

Is Your boat going in circles? You might be where you are supposed to be.

Posted on by Kbaumlier

This past weekend I attended Bhakti Fest in Madison, WI.  The event was a mix of yoga classes, workshops and music.  It was my first yoga festival that I went to and it was a great experience.

There were a few things that I have been  thinking about since I left which have me thinking about the idea that “you are exactly where you are supposed to be.”

Here are some of the things I heard this weekend:

1.  There are no boundaries.

In  one of the yoga classes, the instructor told us to approach going into the yoga pose not with the idea of trying to stretch into it as far as we could but to think of it as though there was no boundary.  Nothing was there that would keep you back.

2.  Your boat is  going exactly where it needs to go.

In another class, the instructor led us through a story/guided meditation where we imagined we were laying in a boat and drifting at sea.. He shared the story of some monks who lived in Ireland called the Peregrini in the fifth and sixth centuries who left the monasteries and got into a small boat off the shores of Ireland. The boat had no rudder and no oars. They put up a sail and trusted that the  winds would take them where they were supposed to go.

3.  Where are you rushing off to? All there is in the end is a hole in the ground.

In a aromatherapy yin yoga workshop where you hold poses for a long time, the teacher reminded us that we all end at the same spot in the end, so why focus on the getting there so much instead of where you are.

Right now we are driving back home, and I have to admit that I am thinking about my broken computer, our ride and navigation home but maybe with a little less focus on what I can’t control at this moment.  Ultimately I know that my boat is headed where it is supposed to go.

 

Links:

www.bhaktifest.com